Working with Images in Microsoft Photo Editor Part I Finding and Storing Images. Steps 1 4 will take you through steps that will help you find and save your image files. 1 Decide where you want to store the images you want. In many cases, Windows will have made this decision for you, and by default, your images will be stored in a folder that sits within the My Documents folder called My Pictures. First, create a folder within the subfolder of the My Documents/ My Pictures folder. To do this: a) Double click on the My Documents folder. b) Then double click again to open the My Pictures folder. c) Right click within the open My Pictures folder, click anywhere you see white space and select the option for New/Folder. Working with Images p. 1
d) Name the folder with your first initial, last name and the word images, or something else that is more meaningful to you. 2 Use Google to find an image. a) Open the Google search engine (http://www.google.com). b) Click on Images. Working with Images p. 2
c) Search for an image on a topic of your choice (ships, students, moons, etc.) You ll probably come up with a window full of possible images. d) Right click on one that looks interesting, and then select the option for Open Link in New Window. e) When you see the image you selected in the new window, there may be an option to blow it up to a bigger size. If so, select that option. Working with Images p. 3
3 Right click on the image you have selected in the largest size you can find. Select the option for Save Picture as. 4 Notice the different parts of the save as window so you can be sure that you have saved the image where you want it, and where you ll be able to locate it later. Check for the following: a) Correct folder b) Correct file name c) Correct file type Working with Images p. 4
NB: There are three main types of image files: a. JPEG or JPG stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group. Be careful here: When you save your image, it may say JPG as the file type, but the file name should also have the letters JPG after the period in the file name, not JPE. Just change it. b. GIF stands for graphic interface file. This is most normally used for computer drawn images like titles, words, clip art, etc. c. BMP stands for bitmap picture. This is the most uncompressed type of picture file and usually results from scanning an image. Part II Manipulating the Image. Steps 1 4 will help you with the basics of modifying an image: cropping, sizing and brightening 1. Use the Start/Programs command. Select the option for Microsoft Office Tools, and then Photo Editor You ll usually find the MicrosoftPhotoEditor under the selection for MicrosoftOfficeTools. 2. Click on File/Open, and select MyDocuments/MyPictures/ YourFolder/imageyousaved.jpg. 3. Usually, the first thing you ll want to do is isolate the part of the image that you want to use. You actually crop out the parts you don t want. Here are the steps: a) Click on the select tool (looks like a little dotted box on the toolbar). Working with Images p. 5
b) Use your cursor to point to the top left or bottom right corner of the part of the image you want to grab. Drag the cursor to the diagonally opposite corner. You ll see a little dotted line box around the section of the image that you are trying to capture. c) Once you ve selected what you want, right click to open the Select tool s submenu, and click on the option for crop. This will delete everything except the part you want from the picture. Working with Images p. 6
4. Now that you have the chunk you want, rotate it, change the size and apply other effects as listed in the Images and Effects menus. Try these out. The best rule to use is trust your eye. Working with Images p. 7
Setting the size for your image can get a little confusing, but basically if you want to put the image on a web page or in PowerPoint, figure that the average screen size is 800 x 600 pixels. So, use the pixel measurement unit. If you set the image width to 200 pixels, it will set the proportionally correct height automatically. The resulting image will take up about ¼ of your screen. If you re printing the image on a page for a handout, etc., use the inches measurement. An image set to be 2 wide will take up about ¼ of an 8.5 x 11 page. At some point, you ll do something drastic. Never fear: Use the Edit/Undo (or hold down the CTRL key +press the letter Z) menu option to go one step at a time. To go back to what it was the last time you saved it, use File/Revert. But, as you get close to what you want, it s a good idea to save the image as you go along. You can save the image with different file names if you want to retain different versions. Working with Images p. 8